National protest agenda and the dimensionality of party politics: Evidence from four East-Central European democracies

Contemporary democracies show considerable differences in the issue composition of their protest politics, which tends to remain relatively stable over time. In countries like Germany or the Czech Republic, the vast majority of protests have been mobilised around sociocultural issues, such as human rights, peace, nuclear power or the environment, and only a tiny portion of protest has focused on economic issues. At the opposite extreme, protest in France or Poland usually has a strongly economic character and voices demands relating to material redistribution and social policy. What lies behind the cross-country differences in national protest agendas? In this article, the national protest agenda depends on what issues mainstream political parties are contesting: the content and strength of the master-issue dimension. In reference to the literature on the multidimensional political space and niche political parties, one should expect that there is a substitutive effect; where the stronger a specific master-issue dimension is in party politics, the less salient that issue dimension is in protest politics. This substitutive effect results from the tendency of electoral politics to reduce political conflict to a single-dimension equilibrium, which decreases the importance of other issues and relegates the contest over secondary, niche issues to the realm of policy-seeking strategies, with protest being a common type of this political strategy. In party systems where single-dimension equilibrium does not exist and the master-issue dimension is weaker, the same dynamics result in a more convergent relationship between party and protest politics and a greater similarity between the protest- and party-system agendas. To investigate this theory, the national protest agendas in four countries are examined. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia show four combinations of two crucial factors that are not available in the old Western democracies: the content and the strength of the master-issue dimension. The study draws on an original dataset of protest events organised in the four countries between 1993 and 2010, and on qualitative and quantitative data on issue dimensions of party politics obtained from studies on party politics and expert surveys. The results show that in the Czech Republic, where the master-issue dimension has remained strongly economic, protest has been predominantly sociocultural. In Poland between 1993 and 2001 and Hungary between 1993 and 2006, the master-issue dimensions are strongly sociocultural, while protest is predominantly economic. There is no single-dimension equilibrium in party politics in Slovakia or in post-2001 Poland and mainstream parties compete on both economic and sociocultural issues. Consequently, the substitutive dynamics between party and protest politics is weaker and the issue agendas in party and protest arenas are here more alike.     

Cuban Historiography in the 1960s: Revisionists,Revolutionaries and the Nationalist Past

This article examines nationalist historiography in revolutionary Cuba, focusing in particular on the relationship between pre‐revolutionary ‘revisionist’ histories and the revolutionary historiography produced after 1959. Despite agreement among the revolutionaries on the need for new histories to respond to the needs of the revolutionary age, the dominant nationalist historiography of the Revolution repeated many of the myths of the ‘bourgeois’ histories of the past. In the 1960s, however, several historians working at the margins of academia emerged to challenge the nationalist myths perpetuated by both their republican counterparts and by their Marxist adversaries in the University School of History. Yet despite many significant historical re‐interpretations undertaken during the Revolution, many of the sacred cows of Cuban nationalism remained firmly on their plinth.     

Politicians and Civil Servants: Unfinished Business—The Next Steps Report,Fulton and the Future*

This article discusses the origins of the Efficiency Unit's ‘Next Steps’ Report, published 20 years ago which recommended the executive agency as an organisation for much of the British government. Within five years more than half the civil service had been transferred to work in agencies but the other major recommendation of the report – improving the management skills of the senior civil service received far less enthusiastic attention. From the Fulton Report, the Next Steps report to the Capability Reviews of current Whitehall the same problem is highlighted: there is still too little management competence within the public service despite the endorsement of the need for improvement by successive governments.     

Pajama Headaches

You may recall the media reported at the beginning of this year a strange new global phenomenon-the pajama ban.It started in Cardiff,in Wales in the United Kingdom,in January.A Tesco supermarket in the St Mellon area of Cardiff escorted an indignant Elaine Carmody off its premises after she violated a new dress code prohibiting people from shopping in their nightwear.     

No Talking Shops?

Western commentators on China's National People's Congress(NPC) and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC) are not always kind.Disparaging remarks about rubber stamp organizations, talking shops and showcases for photographs of ethnic minority costumes tend to be the order of the day.     

Shanghai Keeps Its Cool

For a city about to receive an estimated 70 million visitors,Shanghai is remarkably composed as it nears the opening of the World Expo.Walking along the Bund and strolling through the former French Concession on a Saturday afternoon in spring,it would be easy for a foreign visitor not to realize what is going on.There are notices in hotels apologizing in advance to guests for any inconvenience caused by enhanced security measures.Taxis advertise hotlines for visitors having trouble in communicating with their drivers in English.But the air of suppressed hysteria which characterized Beijing in the run-up to the Olympics is absent.Shanghai is looking forward to a party,but is far too sophisticated for any display of overexcitement.     

From 'My Vote' to 'The Real Alternative': Selling the Liberal Democrats

As the third party in British politics, a compelling message is crucial for the Liberal Democrats. Overcoming a prevailing sense of a wasted vote is key—achieved by, we argue, demonstrating political potency. This article explores the synergy between the Liberal Democrat leader and the message; the relationship of each election message to the political reality in which the party finds itself; and the role of polling in messaging. We explore what is—and is not—a message, and the role of negative messaging by the Liberal Democrats since 1992. We consider the limitations of messaging and the lack of control that a third party has over its message. In conclusion, we reflect on what the lessons learnt by the Liberal Democrats over the last four elections may mean for the messaging at the next general election.